Have a wonderful holiday season!_____________________________ This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

Â» Download interactive software [downloads very slowly]http://kilm.ilo.org/wer2004/temp/setupwer2004b.exe This software package contains the full manuscript in English, background papers, and supporting data sets. The software will automatically download the manuscripts in French and Spanish when they become available. Download the file and run it to install the software. (Documents are in PDF format. Adobe reader required.)

_____________________________ This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

Like many other mature industrial sectors, Europes leather and textiles sector, has undergone dramatic change over the past 20 years. This EMCC dossier provides an in-depth analysis of the trends and forces driving change in the sector, using a compilation of relevant reports, company case studies and scenarios to give a comprehensive insight into an industry in transition

INCLUDES NUMEROUS FULL-TEXT REPORTS

AND CASE STUDIEShttp://www.emcc.eurofound.eu.int/content/source/eu04013a.html * Hennes & Mauritz Sweden, is a multinational fashion clothing retailer. Its core strategy consists of a mix of super-efficient supply chain management, logistics, and branding -successfully using new emerging technologies, especially ICT. The company is able to keep the balance of cost and quality while at the same time meeting rapidly changing consumer preferences. * Karstadt Warenhaus AG , Germany, is also a clothing and leather retailer. The company follows the same strategy as H&M, a mix of efficient supply chain management, logistics, and branding, in order to satisfy rapidly changing consumer demands. * Kvadrat A/S , Denmark, produces high-end interior textiles for a global market. The company has looked to the Far East to enter into strategic collaboration with firms in Japan, notably with one firm that has patented a new environmentally correct way of producing plastic-coated materials. * LiolÃ S.p.A. , Italy, is a 150 year-old company and part of the LiolÃ group. Its strategy is based on local, vertical integration of all phases from production to sales, producing high-quality knitwear for different market segments. ICT play a key role for LiolÃ to successfully implement its advanced form of the supply chain. * LiolÃ print S.r.l. , Italy, is another LiolÃ group company, which specialises in printing and dyeing of fabrics for production. * Randers Handskefabrik , Denmark, is a small glove-manufacturing company, which has found its market niche through a combination of traditional craftsmanship and the wholesale import of semi-manufactured goods for finishing. * Redgreen A/S , Denmark, produces nautically-inspired fashion clothing. The company has begun to outsource design and creative processes to its Chinese suppliers, allowing itself to focus on its core competence: brand management. * Skillfast-UK , United Kingdom, is a skills service provider, which aims at reducing skills gaps and shortages and anticipating future needs through leverage on the supply side of education and training. The right skills as a road to competition in a global marketprovide the basis to face the challenges of increasing demand for specialised skills in the textiles and clothing industry.

_____________________________ This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

JILPT/ILO Networking of National Institutes for Labour Studies: Meeting on Joint Investigative Studies for"Determining the Impact of Information and Communications Technology on Decent Work in the Asia and Pacific Region"December 2-3, 2004, Bangkok

Background

The Asian Network of National Institutes of Labour Studies was set up in March 1994 by the Japan Institute of Labour (now JILPT), <http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/index.htm>ILO's Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ILO/RO) and International Institute of Labour Studies (IILS). The main objective of the Network is to enhance the capacity of member institutes of labour studies to significantly contribute to the formulation of labour policies and programmes by national policy makers and socio-economic development planners.The activities of the Network involve investigative studies, organisation of regional conferences and national workshops to discuss and disseminate the results of the investigative work, and to facilitate to sharing of information amongst member institutes on their research and training activities. For the fourth round of the investigative studies (2002-04), the topic was decided as "Determining the Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Decent Work in the Asia Pacific Region", with which each member institute has been conducting domestic research on for the past period. And in this context, the said meeting was held in its final year with the aim of discussing and consolidating the research results by each member institute. Following are the papers submitted to the meeting.

Thailand Final Report "Determining the Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Decent Work in Thailand"http://www.jil.go.jp/english/events_and_information/documents/ann04_thailand.pdf [full-text, 108 pages] Mallika Kunavarana Member of Sub-committee on the Consideration of National Labour Administration Policies, National Advisory Council for Labour Development, Ministry of Labour Viet Nam Vinh Dao Quang Deputy Director, Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs_____________________________ This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

Articles 6 Recent Trends in Labour Market RegulationsIkuko Mizushima 27 Career Formation and Balanced Treatment of Part-time Workers: An Examination Focusing on Legal PolicyMichio Tsuchida 48 Working Hour Schemes for White-collar Employees in JapanYoichi Shimada 70 Law and Economics of Labor in Japan: Review of Kaiko Hosei wo Kangaeru: Hogaku to Keizaigaku no Shiten (Examining Dismissal Law: From the Perspective of Legal and Economic Studies) Fumio, Ohtale, Shinya Ouchi and Ryuichi Yamakawa, eds. Ryo Kambayashi 98 JILPT Research Activities_____________________________ This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training -- JILPT Report JILPT Report is one of our publications in English, mainly to provide study results of our international seminars and workshops, by compiling papers that are submitted from domestic and foreign researchers on the occasion.

No.1 The Mechanism for Establishing and Changing Terms and Conditions of Employment/ The Scope of Labor Law and the Notion of Employees (June 2004) 2004 JILPT Comparative Labor Law Seminarhttp://www.jil.go.jp/english/documents/JILPTRNo1.pdf [full-text, 182 pages]

This is a compilation of papers presented at-

Comparative Labor Law Seminar

9th-10th March, 2004 JILPT held a 7th Comparative Labor Law Seminar, in aim of having cross-national discussion and comparative analyses on critical issues in the field of labor law, by inviting researchers from abroad. The Seminar consisted of two themes, namely:

* The Mechanism for Establishing and Changing Terms and Conditions of Employment * Diversifying Employment Patterns and the Scope of Labor Law and the Notion of Employees Following are the list of participants and the papers submitted for the seminar.

_____________________________ This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

The standardised unemployment rate for the OECD area remained at 6.8% in October 2004, 0.3 percentage point lower than a year earlier.

In the Euro area, the standardised unemployment rate remained at 8.9% in October 2004, the same rate as a year earlier. The United States' standardised unemployment rate for November 2004 fell to 5.4%, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.5 percentage point lower than a year earlier. For Japan, the rate was 4.7% in October 2004, 0.1 percentage point higher than the previous month but 0.5 percentage point lower than in October 2003.

In October 2004, the standardised unemployment rate in France fell to 9.5%, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.1 percentage point lower than a year earlier. In Germany, the rate remained at 9.9% in October 2004, 0.2 percentage point higher than in October 2003. In Canada, the standardised unemployment rate was 7.3% in November 2004, 0.2 percentage point higher than the previous month but 0.2 percentage point lower than a year earlier. In August 2004, the rate in the United Kingdom was 4.5%, 0.1 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.4 percentage point lower than in August 2003. In January 2004, the standardised unemployment rate in Italy was 8.5%, 0.4 percentage point lower than a year earlier.

AND MUCH MORE...including TABLES...._____________________________ This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

(The following is courtesy of the Centre for Industrial Relations, University of Toronto).

Weekly Work Report for the Week of December 13, 2004

These highlights of the week's HR/IR news are prepared by the Librarians at the Centre for Industrial Relations for our subscribers, alumni, faculty and students, and are intended for their individual use only. Please visit the CIR website for terms of use and information about organizational subscriptions. This message is composed in MS Outlook Express and contains hyperlinks that require an HTML-enabled email program.

The WWR is protected by Canadian copyright law and should not be reproduced or forwarded without permission. For inquiries or comments, please contact the Editor, elizabeth.perry@utoronto.ca.

---------- ONTARIO AMENDS LEGISLATION GOVERNING OVERTIME: On December 9th, the Ontario government introduced and passed Bill 63, the Employment Standards Amendment Act (Hours of Work and Other Matters), 2004. The legislation comes into effect on March 1, 2005. After that date, an employer who wants employees to work more than 48 hours in a week will be required to provide employees an information sheet published by the Ministry of Labour , detailing employee rights and responsibilities about hours of work and overtime pay. In addition, the employer must obtain written agreement from the employee, or from the union if the workplace is unionized, and receive approval from the Ministry of Labour. The Ministry has already made available online the information sheet, forms, and an employers guide.

---------- MORE FLEXIBILITY FOR MANITOBA PENSIONS : The Manitoba government introduced amendments to the Pension Benefit Act on December 6, focusing on four key areas: clarification of pensions as Âfamily assetsÂ, protection of the Âpension promiseÂ of an income for life, provision of increased flexibility and updated requirements for the governance and management of pension plans. Among the changes: allowing phased-in retirement so that older workers (with employer agreement) could choose to work part-time and receive pension benefits. The amendments follow recommendations made by a provincial Pension Commission review committee in March 2003.

---------- CANADA POST LAUNCHES ROTATING STRIKES: Postal workers represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada began a series of rotating strikes on December 9, targetting Fredericton, Antigonish, Ottawa, Edmonton, and most recently, Halifax , St. John's , Scarborough and Vancouver. According to the union, the current contract proposals from the employer contain unacceptable rollbacks on health benefits, severance pay, and leaves, but the dispute is also being characterized as a battle for equality because two-thirds of the workers are women. The employer reports that it has offered a forty-two month contract with wage increases of 2.25%, 2.25%, 2.4% and 2.4%, job security for all regular employees, and has accepted the union's proposal to allow part-time employees to accrue pension benefits based on actual hours worked.

---------- ONTARIO TEACHERSÂ BARGAINING : The Ontario Minister of Education, Gerard Kennedy, has offered teachers incentives to sign four-year contracts, instead of the two-year contracts they are currently negotiating. Those who agree to four-year contracts will receive a 2.5 % increase in year three and 3.0 % in year four. The negotiations could be reopened after year two. There will be additional funding for out-of-pocket training for teachers covered by the four-year contracts. The Ontario Secondary School TeachersÂ Federation (OSSTF) has accused the minister of interfering in the bargaining process.

---------- PAY FREEZE TO LIFT FOR B.C. GOVERNMENT WORKERS: British ColumbiaÂs Minister of Finance announced on December 8th that he will lift the public-sector wage freeze for the fiscal year 2005-2006. Many public sector agreements expire in 2006. On December 3, the minister had released an optimistic forecast of 3.3% growth for 2005, based on the work of the provincial Economic Forecast Council.

---------- B.C. WOMEN LOSING JOBS AND SERVICES: On December 9th, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a study of the effects on women of recent government downsizing and policy changes in British Columbia. Nearly three quarters of the public sector jobs lost since 2001 were held by women. Cuts to child care, long-term care, the weakening of employment standards and other policy changes have also had a disproportionate impact on women.

---------- CANADIAN CAPITAL INVESTMENT NEEDED: A recent report by the C.D. Howe Institute compares the investment in physical capital in the Canadian provinces to that of the United States and other OECD countries. The report, titled Tools for Workers: How Canada is Faring in the Competition for Capital Investment, notes that spending on physical capital in Canada has not kept pace with that of many other OECD countries and fallen notably behind that of the United States. With greater capital mobility and the increase in economic development in Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America, competition for investment has increased. The report suggests some policy reforms to close the gap.

---------- GRAPHICS COMMUNICATIONS UNION MERGES WITH TEAMSTERS: Results of voting were announced on December 8th, showing that 7000 members of the Graphics Communications International Union in Ontario and Quebec have voted to merge with the Teamsters in Canada. Effective January 1, 2005, the GCIU will become a conference within the Teamsters union structure; the GCIU and its locals will maintain their autonomy and authority over their contracts. GCIU President George Tedeschi and the other executive officers will continue in their existing positions.

---------- WHEN DO PEOPLE WANT TO RETIRE? An article released on Dec. 7 builds on the results of the Statistics CanadaÂs 2002 General Social Survey to examine the match between retirement preferences and experiences. The survey asked approximately 25,000 people 45 years of age and older if they would have preferred to retire or to continue to work Â­ about one quarter wanted to work. The survey also asked under what circumstances people would have chosen to continue working Â­ for example, if their health had been better, if mandatory retirement policies had not existed, or if they could have worked part-time without affecting their pensions.

---------- U.S. HEALTH, HEALTH INSURANCE, AND PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: The U.S. National Center on Health Statistics has published the 2004 edition of its annual review of health statistics, covering a wide range of health conditions and the expenditures related to them. Prescription drugs are prominent in the report; between 1995 and 2002, the average annual rate of increase for prescription drug expenditures was 15%, higher than any other type of health expenditure. In 2002, 48% of these costs were paid by private health insurance. Table 124 of the Highlights report states that private employersÂ health insurance costs per employee-hour worked were $1.41 in 2003, and the share of total compensation devoted to health insurance was 5.9% in 2001 and 6.3% in 2003.

---------- RETIREE BENEFITS COSTS IN THE U.S.: On December 13, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Hewitt Associates released the results of a survey of employer-sponsored retiree health plans in the U.S.. The survey documents the increasing costs of retiree benefits for large private-sector employers and their retirees in the U.S., projects changes for 2005, and considers how employers will respond in January 2006 when the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) takes effect.

---------- MANITOBAÂS LABOUR SPONSORED INVESTMENT FUND UNDER REVIEW: Crocus, the Manitoba labour-sponsored investment fund, announced on December 10th that it has initiated an organizational review and comprehensive assessment of the value of its portfolio. In the meantime, trading of shares has been halted and the price frozen at $10.45 per share. Established in 1992, the goals of the Crocus fund included, Âto be the pre-eminent private sector economic development organization in Manitoba , by maintaining continuity of local ownership, bolstering job growth, and modeling and fostering social responsibility in Manitoba businesses and fostering economic democracy .

---------- IMMIGRATION AND SKILLS SHORTAGES: A new handbook released on December 14 by the Canadian Labour and Business Centre summarizes Statistics Canada data to provide a general overview of the trends in immigration in Canada and the challenges for new immigrants who are trying to integrate into the Canadian labour market.

---------- ILO REPORTS ON GLOBAL POVERTY: The 2004-2005 edition of the annual World Employment Report, was released by the International Labor Organization on December 7. According to the report, nearly 1.4 billion people are living on less than the equivalent of US$2 a day. The report provides statistical tables, analysis of the linkages between employment, productivity and poverty reduction, and makes recommendations for policy improvements, especially for the agricultural sector.

---------- 121 St. George St., Toronto Canada M5S 2E8 <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/cir>_____________________________ This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

[excerpt] When setting up global company trade union networks, the Global Union Federations cannot rely on any political / legal safeguards akin to those created within the European Union by the EU directive on the establishment of European Works Councils; instead, they are left to their own devices. Meanwhile their resources are sufficient at best to foster trade union networking within companies in a highly pragmatic, unsystematic fashion.

Policy Making in the European Union: Is There a Social Democratic Space?Wolfgang Merkel & Tobias Ostheim * - Bonn : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Internat. Politikanalyse, 2004. Electronic ed.: Bonn : FES, 2004 ISBN 3-89892-252-9http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/id/02605.pdf [full-text, 15 pages]_____________________________ This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

Abstracthttp://www.kli.re.kr/kli_eng/elabor/37/elabr_Frameset3.htm In this paper we will define retirees in broader age brackets and analyze reasons for retirement and sources of retirement income based on survey on aging and aged adults, conducted by the 6th Korea Labor and Income Panel Study (2003). The survey results show that 46.9% of 1,023 retirees who responded to survey stated health for a major retirement reason. Five different answers were offered for the question of retirement reason and the answer was subject to gender. Men answered legal retirement or involuntary/forced retirement as the second major reason for retirement whereas women pointed at caring for family members as the major reason second to health. Men retired at an average age of 58.3 while women did at an average of 55.2. Female workers who left workplace for family did so even earlier at age 46.5. Relative to retiree income, analysis was primarily done on 776 retirees who have verified income sources and amount. The analysis revealed a monthly average of KRW 801,000 of retirement income. There was a significant gender gap where male retirees have KRW 947,000 for retirement income whereas their female counterparts have KRW 610,000. A gap in economic benefit is also created from why they retired. Those who retired due to health issues earn only KRW 548,000, which is less than half of KRW 1,162,000 of legal retirees' average income.

_____________________________ This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

Outsourcing of ICT and related services in the EU (report)http://www.eurofound.eu.int/publications/files/EF04137EN.pdf [full-text, 39 pages] Author: Dahlmann, S., Flecker, J. and Huws, U. Summary: Based primarily on an analysis of a body of research covering more than two decades, this report defines the scope of offshore outsourcingand the services involved. It also covers issues such as the distribution of ICT service employment in Europe, driving factors of ICT service outsourcing and current trends in offshore outsourcing. dff550a.jpg 617 kb Pages: 39 ISBN: 92-897-0906-5

Published: 2004

From Press Release [13 December 2004]Outsourcing of ict and related services in the EU: EU jobs not at risk from outsourcing of ICT services

Europe is not losing jobs in the information and communication technologies services sector (ICT) due to outsourcing, according to the Foundations European Monitoring Centre on Change (EMCC) in its new report Outsourcing of ICT and related services in the EU.

The report shows that employment in other business services is growing consistently across all the countries studied and, in some cases, such as the Czech Republic, this growth is quite spectacular. With the single exception of Denmark, any decline in computer and related employment was more than compensated, numerically speaking, by growth in another business services sector.

The strongest growth has taken place in precisely those countries where employment levels in these sectors are at their lowest. In other words, whilst the new Member States may be behind the rest of Europe in the proportion of their economies devoted to ICT services, they are catching up fast. The lowest growth rates are, by and large, in the most developed economies.

The reasons for this continuing growth in ICT service employment in Europe are several. First, it is a reflection of economic and linguistic diversity, giving a large range of alternative sites for offshore outsourcing within the EU. Second, it reflects the fact that the EU is a recipient of outsourced employment from other parts of the world, notably the US. Finally, it highlights the increasing propensity to outsource ICT and ICT-enabled functions, resulting in a shift to these sectors from other parts of the economy, including the public sector.

The report pieces together, impartially, the available evidence on outsourcing of ICT and related services in the European Union with the goal of informing the EU policymaking process. It draws on a body of market research and anecdotal data, in the absence of reliable data, statistics or research, which has been carried out over the past two decades on offshore information processing, trans-border teleworking, and new global division of labour in information services.

Three major trends have been identified. Outsourcing of ICT services is moving from an experimental to a consolidation phase. There is continuing growth in the importance of intermediaries. The extension of offshore outsourcing into increasingly skilled fields._____________________________ This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

Several major UK unions have been involved in mergers in 2004, continuing a trend established in the 1990s. The mergers go beyond industry consolidation and demonstrate further membership concentration in large, general 'super-unions'.

In September 2004, it was announced that plans for a large-scale trade union merger among affiliates of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÃGB), initially launched in 2001, had been dropped. Differing 'corporate cultures' among the unions and inter-union conflicts over the distribution of power and posts are thought to have been among the key factors in the merger's failure.

In September 2004, a merger between the General WorkersUnion (SiD) and the National Union of Female Workers (KAD) became a reality when the new organisation, known as 3F, held its inaugural congress. The new union has 375,000 members and is Denmark's largest.

Four trade unions affiliated to Norway's Confederation of Vocational Unions (YS) had been planning a merger since 2002, but two of them pulled out, at least for the present, in late June 2004. The two remaining unions, PRIFO and 2fo, will continue the merger process. However, the merged union, due to be established on 1 January 2005, will now have 30,000 members rather than 90,000, as originally envisaged

A new public sector trade union will be established in summer 2003 when the Norwegian Union of Municipal Employees (NKF) and the Norwegian Association of Health and Social Care Personnel (NHS) merge. The new organisation will have some 280,000 members, making it Norway's largest trade union.

Four large Dutch trade unions, which already cooperate in the FNV confederation, have recently decided to merge. The merger is to be finalised in January 1998, resulting in a union with almost half a million members. For the first time, those receiving social benefits and older people will be incorporated into the organisation as a distinct industrial group. This merger has also prompted more intensive cooperation between other Dutch unions.

October 1997 saw a wave of trade union mergers in Germany, reducing the number of affiliates of the DGB confederation from 15 to 11 unions. The mining, leather and chemicals workers' unions have founded a new joint union, while the textiles and clothing workers' union and the union for workers in wood and plastics have decided to integrate themselves into the metalworkers' union, IG Metall. Furthermore, six unions in the service sector have signed a joint declaration pointing out the need for further restructuring among union organisations, which may finally lead to further mergers.

_____________________________ This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.